300winmag

The conservative 'pro gun' NRA endorsed TN legislature never has gotten around fixing that law for people with handgun carry permits. It is legal to carry in K-12 school buildings in some of the surrounding states with a license.

Reserve police in my area are fully sworn officers and can carry on duty and off duty just like full time police officers. State law allows them to carry anywhere in the state, including inside school buildings, just like full time police. Retired police in TN who qualify yearly from what I understand can carry anywhere they want just like full time police too, including school property. They just of course are not LEO's anymore.

I think the first focus should be removing the criminal offense in our state law for someone with a handgun carry permit carrying on college property and then of course on K-12 property. From what I understand private colleges and private K-12 schools can allow by policy people with handgun carry permits to carry BUT by default it is still a crime. Second, it is important to point out there are several classes of people in TN that can already carry on school property that are not LEO's. Last year a state law was passed to allow district attorneys and assistant district attorneys to carry anywhere, including school property, even when they are not working if they go through firearms training. Licensed armed guards (they takee a 2 day class VS 1 day for handgun carry permits) can carry on public and private K-12 and college property when working. From what I understand in the past or maybe even now people with the right connections were or are able to get special deputy cards/city police commissions and they can carry on school property. College staff can already carry at public colleges but of course just on their own not representing the college as a security function. It's legal for schools to have school shooting teams and have their guns at schools. They can teach hunter ed at schools with guns. With non LEO people already possessing guns on school property in some fashion and some carrying them for protection I don't see what the problem is with legalizing handgun carry permit people. As far as K-12 schools here, I would not make it a crime for teachers and staff or anyone else with a permit to carry. School staff carrying would have to be between them and their employer just like any other job.

I think as far as legalizing K-12 school carry in Tennessee, the best approach would be to take the approach that Missouri has taken. It is a good balance between not giving people with pistol licenses criminal charges (isn't that the whole point of paying for a pistol license?) for carrying inside schools and allowing schools to ask people to leave the building/take gun to car that they find out are legally carrying. Missouri basically has it in their law that it is not a criminal offense to carry in school buildings but that a licensee can be asked to leave. That to me is the way it should be here. There are some people in the gun community that forget that a handgun carry permit should just be something to keep you from getting weapons charges and not to force property owners to allow you to carry/change their internal policies. On the flip side, many in the anti gun community can't understand that a handgun carry permit should keep people from getting weapons charges and it is pointless to give someone who has a permit criminal weapons charges for carrying in certain locations whether that be a school, church, state government building, etc. because that person has been checked out. Hey ask that person to leave and take the gun to the car, but the person has paid for a permit and should be exempt from gun charges because he or she is not a criminal.

We really need to focus on getting college carry with a handgun carry permit legalized first in Tennessee and use the fact that Tennessee is one of the few states in this part of the country that makes college carry illegal with a permit. It would be of more practical benefit for people who are going to night classes. We've got to use facts for our side and not emotion and those facts are that college carry is legal in most states bordering TN. Use the strategy that college carry would be useful for folks walking alone at night for protection from parking lot robbery. Mention that MS enhanced licensees take the same 8 hour training classes that TN handgun carry permit people take and give statistics of that program. Emotional arguments can always be cut apart a lot easier VS the facts. I think K-12 carry is possible with a permit but you have to get college carry first. You will need to point out that it is already legal in states bordering TN which are MS, AL, and Missouri.

The NRA and state gun rights groups don't have to look further than several states that border TN where there are not any problems with K-12 and college carry. The gun groups should not let the conservative republican politicians here play dumb and not recognize the fact that legal licensed school and college carry does happen in quite a few states.

A public school district in Tennessee can use a contract security company right now for armed security on school property but I'm guessing that very few of the public school districts here do that if they can't afford school resource officers. I'm sure private schools use contract companies quite a bit.

Also remember that it is legal to carry on college property in every state surrounding Tennessee, except North Carolina. It would be nice if our 'conservative republican' politicians would help make things easier as far as carry restrictions for people who have jumped through the hoops to get carry permits here.

You can carry in K-12 public schools in Mississippi with an enhanced carry license. The enhanced license requires basically the same 8 hour training class as the TN handgun carry permit class. In fact a couple of ranges in Memphis offer the classes for people to get enhanced MS licenses. You can also carry in K-12 schools in Alabama with a pistol license there. You do not need any training to get a pistol license. You just pay a 20 dollar fee to the county sheriff, pass a background check, and are good to go to legally carry at your kid's school. Of course in both Alabama and Mississippi you are legal to carry on all K-12 private school property, public and private colleges. Kind of silly how we basically have the same license as an enhanced MS license and of course go through more hoops than people in Alabama and we are illegal here at all colleges and K-12 schools. From what I understand it is also legal to carry on K-12 and college property in Missouri with a carry license. I think they may require range training to get a carry license like Tennessee.

HB 0884 that basically would have allowed people with handgun carry permits to carry anywhere in the state just like off duty LEO's, prison guards, and now district attorneys and assistant DA's was the bill that was killed in the subcommittee on Wednesday. The no guns sign bill House Bill 2484 did make it through House subcommittee on Tuesday and will be in full House committee on next Wednesday. The airport terminal carry bill will be heard in House subcommittee in a couple of weeks. Definitely contact the House criminal justice committee members and support house bill 2484. This is a decent bill that improves our carry situation. Also contact your own state rep, state senator, NRA, and state gun rights organization and support a good version of this bill in our favor because it is being amended in committee. People complain about these no guns signs here and how they do have criminal charges both at state government buildings and private property. Now is the window of opportunity to work with people who are trying to help the problem.

HB 2484 / SB 2336 Made it through house subcommittee yesterday. Basically the bill removes criminal liability for someone who leaves a posted premises when asked to do so. It looked like by watching video that an amendment was added for the bill to apply to someone who possibly negligently/recklessly carries in a posted area. A moms demand action supporter showed up to speak for her side. No NRA or other gun rights org lobbyist showed up. We are lucky that there seem to be several representatives sitting on this committee that are sympathetic to carry rights and willing to work with a governor and House Speaker that are lukewarm to easing carry restrictions. If our side does not show up, how can we expect our situation to improve? HB 2485 / SB 2335 This bill would totally legalize carry within the non secure portion of airport terminals if you have a handgun carry permit. Both of these bills have been authored by the same representative and state senator. Neither bill seem to have negative fiscal notes either. You might want to contact your representative, state senator, and NRA and other gun rights organizations to support these positive bills because they will help our carry rights.

This law does not just apply to privately owned businesses like stores. Some state and locally owned government buildings can still put no gun signs that apply to people with permits. A lot of people forget about that. Just by my reading of HB 2484, I think it is a big improvement over what we have now and would allow someone to leave if discovered without criminal weapons charge. Basically if police called, then they would ask person to leave, and if that person refused to leave, then police would criminally charge with say the no gun sign law and also could trespass.

Trespass laws sufficiently protect private business owners' rights to prohibit weapons without having an additional state weapons crime for permit holders for violating a sign. You don't see an additional crime for carrying a can of beer past a property owners' 'no beer' sign or a crime for going barefoot for going past 'no shoes no service' signs. Why should a gun be any different? Pro gun people that agree with having weapons crimes such as this weapons crime over a sign for permit holders really need to think about that because you should be for less restrictions for handgun carry permits, not more.

Blaming a third party property owner for the actions of a criminal is kind of like blaming Ford for someone driving a Mustang too fast and getting hurt. Property owners should always be able to ask people to leave/trespass, but nonconforming behavior that is otherwise lawful should not result in weapons charges because it does not follow property owners' rules/policy due to a sign. People forget also that in Tennessee these signs do apply to some state and local government properties. Again Tennessee is probably one of the few states that has weapons charges on the books for people with permits over a sign. And it isn't because Tennessee doesn't recognize permitless or open carry. Plenty of states that require permits to carry do not fine people over no guns signs and that includes places that are difficult to get permits like New York and California.

You might want to contact your state rep, state senator, and the NRA to get behind HB 2484 / SB 2336. This bill does exactly what some of us have been asking for with these stupid signs by "removing criminal liability for possession on a posted premises by a permit holder who immediately leaves posted premises upon being asked to do so." This bill will not pass without help. If you would like a legal trap to be removed for good people trying to protect themselves, this is a good bill to improve our carry situation.

Tennessee no guns sign crime is a weapons crime conviction even though it is a fine only class B misdemeanor. Intent to go armed is a misdemeanor also and most people are just fined for that too but it is still a weapons crime on your criminal record if you are convicted of it. A person's firearm can be taken for any weapon charge and when convicted may never get it back. So this silly law that we have here can turn into more than a 500 dollar fine if someone wants to make it into that. Most states do not slap people who have permits with extra weapons crimes for carrying past specific no guns signs. Pro gun people should want this law to be changed in Tennessee to more of a trespass situation.

Weapons offense convictions can cause problems for people with certain jobs in in government and private sector. According to state law here your handgun carry permit can be suspended or revoked. I'm guessing armed guards can have problems with their licenses too. That is what makes the no guns sign law in Tennessee bad is that it is a stupid law that can be abused to cause an otherwise good person a lot of trouble. Why should someone who has a permit in TN still have to worry about weapons charges over a silly sign of all things in addition to staying clear of schools and colleges? Change the law to a trespass situation like the rest of the country and if you ever get constitutional carry here you will be a lot better off.

The no gun signs law should be changed so that violation of it is a trespass crime instead of a weapons crime under state law. That is the big difference between Tennessee and most states in this country, including other states that require permits to carry like California and New York. Of course until recently people carrying 5 inch blade knives could have been technically breaking the law also but were rarely bothered by police if otherwise not causing problems. You could say the same about how it used to be very common for people to illegally carry handguns. Pro gun people should want any of these types of weapons laws that can be abused to be taken off the books/modified to protect honest people.

I have heard of some churches getting company security licenses (different than a contract security company or armored car service type license) and then the people on the security teams who are carrying firearms get armed guard licenses. The church would have to pay fees to the state for licensing and also have an insurance liability policy. Licensed armed guards can be authorized by the state to carry long guns in addition to handguns. Now in addition to licensed armed guards being able to carry handguns and long guns, the code says that the following people can carry firearms, long guns and handguns without a permit: (3) At the person's: (A) Place of residence; (B) Place of business; or (C) Premises; I'm guessing it could be said that a pastor or other leadership, elders, deacon type people at some churches could probably carry whatever they want without any sort of permit because the church could be their 'premises'.

I'd look at a gas operated semi auto 12 gauge. You can get a better quality semi auto for less than what you would spend on an over and under. You generally also have less recoil. Find one that takes choke tubes so that you do not have to buy extra barrels. As far as used semi autos, I'd look at Remington 1100 (2 and 3/4 only) , Remington 11/87 (takes 2 and 3/4 and 3 inch shells) Beretta 390/391, Browning Silver, Browning Gold, Winchester SX3. All those are gas operated. If you are wanting to hunt with the gun, especially turkey or waterfowl hunt you may not want a Remington 1100 because you cant use 3 inch shells. Beretta has the new A400 and Browning has the Maxus and those are nice light guns and will take 3 and a half inch shells if that is important to you. They're more expensive than the above guns. 20 gauges are nice but honestly the 12 is more versatile for different clay games and also hunting. You can get a quality semi auto 12 gauge, especially the new 3 and a half inch guns and do just about everything.

I believe most speeding tickets in Memphis city limits are between 50 and 100 dollars from what I've heard. I'm actually surprised at how cheap they are. I could be wrong. I've heard that Piperton (little town with maybe 1000 people) is around 200 dollars if you don't want the moving violation on your driving record. Do not speed on 385 (soon to be 269) or the new part of Interstate 269 in Piperton because there is a good very chance a Piperton police car is running radar.

Illinois is now better than California for non residents because at least you can have a loaded handgun in your car in Illinois. You have to put a handgun unloaded in the trunk or a locked case in California since there is no way for you to get a license there. At least you can have a handgun in your hotel room legally in both states. It could be worse like New York.

Even if you can get a carry license in DC, you should read all the restrictions that you have. It is probably as bad or worse than the Illinois carry licenses. There is a list of twenty to twenty five places where you cannot carry a gun. How anyone can be expected to remember that is crazy. Of course that is the whole point is to make legal carry so difficult that good people just don't want to carry or that they get caught breaking a law and hassled by the legal system.

LEOSA was passed over ten years ago and pistol license reciprocity would seem to fall under commerce clause just like LEOSA. Feds use commerce clause for everything. Feds also have basically strong armed the states into accepting each others' marriage licenses, whether the states like it or not. The feds also basically forced the states to raise the drinking age to 21 and lower the drunk driving blood alcohol level down to 0.08. If MADD can lobby for those changes what is wrong with the NRA getting something to benefit us? Our country has long since past the point of having states that truly are independent of one another like when our country was founded. I hate to let you know but Tennessee isn't the most carry friendly place in the country either. Until this year, you were better off with a pistol license in California as far as restrictions than in Tennessee. You're probably still better off carrying there even if you can't carry in schools. Places that are seen as 'liberal' such as Rhode Island, Delaware, Oregon, are much better carry wise than this state. Even New York does not fine you for walking past a 'no gun' sign like Tennessee. This state has gone from an almost worthless to have permit if you wanted to follow the law to a somewhat better situation. I'd say TN used to be one of the worst in the country as far as carry restrictions until the past several years.

If you have a handgun carry permit, you can have a handgun loaded in your car in Illinois and that includes Chicago. You just can't carry it loaded on your person outside of your car unless you are in your hotel room or somewhere like a range or hunting. Why would you not have a loaded handgun in your car for the trip when you are legal?